


Shot Through the Heart

by felicitous



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Canonical Character Death, Love at First Sight, M/M, Sappy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-02-29 02:07:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18769000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicitous/pseuds/felicitous
Summary: When Hawke kills Danarius, a well known human trafficker, he find he wasn't the only one after the man. It's then that he meets Fenris, a former slave. who'd come for his revenge only to find it stolen from him. In exchange, Hawke offers him a job.





	1. Chapter 1

To say that Jareth Hawke was eager to get on with this was an understatement. If their intel was correct, which is usually was, their target was his favorite kind; a human trafficker. They’d been hearing whispers about the man for years now, but this was their first real lead. So they were going to be doing things a little differently. Do to how hard the man was to track down, they weren’t going to be posing as buyers; they were just going to break in and kill him. Or at least Hawke was. This was usually Isabela’s kind of thing, but Hawke figured he’d be able to handle it just fine on his own. Their target was believed to be a mage of the Tevinter empire though, meaning Hawke would need to stay on his toes.

After doing a quick check of the gun and dagger attached to his belt, Hawke pulled on his gloves and made quick work of the fence surrounding Danarius’ property. He’d already taken care of the perimeter guards, but had to be ready in case any other came along. While he intended to clear this place out, he didn’t want to give his target a chance to flee. But so far it seemed that his presence had gone unnoticed. Lucky him.

He slipped in through one of the mansion’s windows when he’d found no sign of it being alarmed and his booted feet settled gently down on the fine wooden floors. This area of the mansion was quiet, but if he held his breath he could hear the steady clack of fingers on a keyboard and the crackling of a fireplace not to far away. It was a relief to say the least. He’d picked this section of the mansion for a reason after all and it seemed his intuition had been correct.

Hawke waited to see if any footsteps could be heard, before emerging out into the darkened hallway. The mansion was extravagant, full of art and abstract sculptures. A finely detailed rug ran the length of the wooden hall floor and he took a second to marvel at unnecessary adornments rich people seemed to prefer. They were always trying to show off their wealth, but it was no matter to him. He and his friends had to fund their little vigilante operation somehow.

Moving quickly down the hall, Jareth kept to the rug, using it to muffle his careful steps. A warm light escaped the room at the end and he pressed against the door frame, remaining in the shadows as he double checked that his pistol was still in its holster. He could feel his silencer as well, an item he’d brought with at Varric’s insistence, not his preference. Stealth wasn’t exactly his strong point.

As if to emphasis that fact a voice rang out from the room before him. “Come in, already. You know I hate to be kept waiting.”

Hawke jumped at the sudden sound and cursed internally. If Danarius knew he was there why hadn’t he called for his security guards. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Hawke stepped into the room, and approached the seated man. He eyed the staff that rested against the desk before coming to a stop a few feet away. “And here I thought I was being careful. So much for that.”

Danarius however seems to be as surprised as Hawk had been. “Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my home?”

Gaping at a loss, Hawke does his best to regain his composure before giving a dramatic bow. “Jareth Hawke, asshole exterminator extraordinaire. I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but we both know it’s not.”

The graying mage rose slowly, bringing his staff up with him. “Ah, so you’ve come to kill me, and Fenris isn’t with you? How curious.”

Once more, Hawke found speech failing him; it really wasn’t his night. Who the hell was Fenris? Sure, he knew there were plenty of people who wanted to give Danarius’ corpse a few kicks, but he didn’t know any names. Had that been who he was expecting? “Nope, just little old me, me and the Champion here that is.”

Danarius barely had the chance to raise his staff before his brain matter painted the wall behind him. His body fell to the wooden floor with a solid thud and Jareth sighed as the sound of the gun echoed through the room around him. He’d been so distracted by Danarius sudden call that he hadn’t even bothered to attach the damned silencer. Varick would rip him a new one for this, if he made it out that was. Every guard in the building was likely on their way.

Spitting one last curse at the dead man, Hawke turned on his heel and made for the door. If he was lucky he might be able to make it out the way he’d come. In his haste, he collided with a surprisingly sturdy figure in the doorway. They crashed to the floor in a pile of limbs and curses, Hawkes gun clattering out of his grasp with the other man’s sword.

“Look who brought a knife to a gunfight,” Hawke couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to free himself from the other man’s weight, fingertips just brushing the corner of the gun’s grip.

Surprisingly sharp fingers closed around his throat then and he allowed himself to look up at the other man at last. He certainly wasn’t what Hawke expected. He was snarling down at Hawke with murderous green eyes, steaks of bluish white twisting across his face in a pattern he couldn’t understand. “Where is Danarius?”

Hawke blinked in surprise at the question, then pulled his gaze away from the handsome man above him to look at where Danarius’ corpse lay. “If you’re here to save him, you’re a little late, buddy. But you might be able to spoon his brains back in if you’re real careful.”

The man followed his gaze and his snear faded as he took in the body beside the desk. He released Hawke and rose slowly, grabbing his sword from the ground before approaching the dead mage. “You killed him…”

His voice was laced with an almost bitter reverence, then he raised his sword and brought it down with a scream, cutting Danarius’ head off. He seemed more animal than man in that moment, and Hawke rose to his feet slowly, grabbing his gun and holding it tight. “I, yeah… You wouldn’t happen to be Fenris would you?”

Fenris spun on him then, the tip of his bloodied sword stopping just short of Hawke’s throat. “Who told you my name? Who are you?”

“Going through this again are we?” Hawke laughed awkwardly, “I’m Jareth Hawke, blah blah blah, and when I got here to do what I do best, your friend there was quite surprised to see just little old me and not, uh, you.”

The sword lowered slowly as Fenris growled out, “He’s not my friend.”

“Well, I suppose a ‘your welcome’ is appropriate here. But, uh, maybe we can save your surely amazing gratitude for after we’ve got the hell out of here. His guards should be here any minute now.”

“They’re dead.”

The dry response took him a moment to process. “Wait, like, dead dead? All of them? Huh, guess that explains why I beat you here. So much for stealth. Guess it’s looting time them,” he holstered his gun and cast a questioning look at Fenris.

The white haired man just shook his head and motioned to the room. “Take what you like. I only wanted his life.”

Hawke smiled at him before beginning his search for anything of value. As he shifted through the desk, pulling the computer's hard drive and any important looking documents, Fenris simply watched him. He cleared his throat suddenly and shifted his feet awkwardly. “Hawke? Was it? What exactly is it that you do best?”

Tonight was just full of surprises it seemed. He paused in his ransacking to throw Fenris a cheeky smile. “Other than being impossibly irresistible and phenomenal in bed? Take care of assholes like this. Why? Need a job?”

“I, I am not sure. I’d never really thought past this moment, but here we are,” Fenris answered slowly, brow furrowing.

Hawke nodded slowly. He understood that, he’d felt the same way about his mother's killer. “Well, if you’re interested in maybe continuing to rid the world of these scumfucks, I won’t say no to the help.”

Fenris stared hard at him for a moment, as if searching Hawke’s very soul for something, before the smallest of smiles pulled at his lips. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

With that he disappeared back into the dark hallway, leaving Hawke with more questions than answers and not enough hands to hold everything he’d intended to take.


	2. Chapter 2

Hawke woke to the sound of sharp knocking at his front door. It wasn’t particularly insistent, but usually if he got a visitor this late at night it was important. He grabbed his pistol from his nightstand and stumbled down the stairs to his front door. With a stifled yawn he pulled it open a crack and peeked out to see who was there. “Can I help you?”

“I did not mean to wake you,” Fenris’ deep voice floated in, an almost amused lilt to it.

“Yeah, uh huh,” Hawke grumbled, opening the door further and motioning for the man to come in. “If you didn’t mean to wake me you wouldn’t have come here at three in the morning. I’m gonna make some coffee. You want some coffee?”

He could feel the other man's eyes raking over his bare torso, pausing at where his pajama pants hung loosely to his hips. “I’m fine, thank you.”

Hawke nodded absently before trudging into his kitchen and over to the coffee maker. He set the pistol aside as he began to work. Fenris’ soft steps followed after him, pausing at the island counter. “Were you expecting someone else?”

Glancing down at the gun for a moment, Hawke shrugged. “I wasn’t really expecting anyone, so you know, better safe than sorry.”

Fenris made a skeptical noise, but said no more. The silence remained until the coffee had finished brewing and Hawke had poured out two cups of coffee, adding a spoon of sugar to his. He set the other on the far side of the kitchens island bar where Fenris stood without taking a seat. “Want any sugar or milk?”

The other man stared down at the cup for a moment then looked back to Hawke, confusion and suspicion mingling in his expression. “How do you have it?”

“I just like a little sugar in mine,” Hawke replied slowly, adding a spoon of sugar to Fenris’ cup and giving it a quick stir. He set the spoon aside them and took a slow, measured sip of his own coffee.

There was a palpable tension in Fenris’ shoulders as he mirrored the action. As he set the cup down, he gave his lips a quick lick. “It’s bitter.”

Hawke chugged down another swallow to keep himself from groaning. He would have that playing through his head for weeks to come, that and the way Fenris had been looking at him. Was that why he was here? A booty call? It certainly wouldn’t be Hawke’s first, but this definitely didn’t seem like any of the others. Fenris was still clad in his thick black Kevlar, sword on his back, and hands hidden by sharp gauntlets. It was a weird look, but he made it work somehow. “So, uh, what brings you here? It's been what, like a week since Danarius. I’d been beginning to think I’d never see you again, and, and better yet. How did you find me?”

“Do you really want to know the answer to that?”

“No, probably not,” if his work at Danarius’ mansion was anything to go by, Hawke would have to guess that it had been bloody and far some subtle. He’d have to let Varric know. “I am still curious as to what brings you by at this awful hour of the night.”

“I’ve been thinking about what you said that night, about your offer,” Fenris answered slowly, staring down into the swirling dark coffee.

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that, as I recall I said a lot of things,” Hawke grinned, leaning against the counter, arms crossing before him against the cool marble.

Fenris’ eyes were on him once again, that damned smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. “You did, yes. However, I am referring to your offer to join your work, in dealing with men like Danarius.”

Maker, he really hoped that smirk meant that wasn’t all he’d been thinking about. “Well, if you’re here I’m guessing you’re interested.”

“That is correct. I thought that killing Danarius would fix things, but even after seeing him dead, I can’t shake this anger. You should know that I belonged to him once. He,” fenris paused to gesture to the lines that ran through his skin, “He did this to me. Imbedded lyrium into my skin to turn me into the perfect weapon.”

Hawke’s hands clenched around his mug with a painful fury. That son of a bitch; this was why he hated human traffickers. “I’m sorry. I imagine that’s far from pleasant.”

Fenris only gave a shrug. “I ran when I had the chance, and when I was ready, I returned for his life. Only I found you had beat me to it. I know there are many more like him out there and it only seems right to continue ridding the world of them.”

“Amen to that!” Hawke lifted his nearly empty mug in cheers. “I, we, welcome the help. Let me give you my number and I arrange for you to meet the others.”

Once again, Fenris was giving him a confused stare. “Your number?”

“Yeah, my phone number. You have a phone, right?”

“No.”

It took Hawke a second to process that. How the hell did he not have a phone? Everyone had a phone nowadays, even children. “Well, fuck, that complicates matters. Um, give me a second.”

Pushing up from the counter, Hawke made his way out of the kitchen and down the hall to his office. He had half a million burner phones he could give to Fenris. He punched in the door code and slipped inside. When he returned, he found that Fenris had moved to the living room and stood with a small framed photo in his hand. On further inspection it was the photo Hawke had taken with Bethany and their Mother when they first arrived in Kirkwall.

“That’s my sister, Bethany, she’s a member of the Wardens now,” Hawke said softly, pointing to her, then moving to point at his mother. “And thats, that’s our mother. She was killed a few years ago.”

Fenris locked eyes with him before setting the photo back down on the coffee table. “I am sorry for your loss. That must be difficult.”

“Bethany still writes me when she has the chance, but uh, anyway. This is for you,” he held out a simple flip phone for Fenris. “My number is already in it for you and I have the number saved as well. This way we can reach out to each other when we need to.”

“How do I use it?” Fenris asked slowly as he carefully accepted the phone and flipped it open to view the screen.

Hawke smiled at him and leaned in to help. “So to call me, you can just press here and then press the one button, that will auto dial my number for you. Or if you go here, you can select my number and send me a text. Just type in whatever message you want and hit send. I can text you and call you as well, the phone will ring or vibrate if I do.”

Fenris nodded along as Hawke explained it to him before tucking it into one of the pockets on his pants. “What do I owe you for this?”

“Uh, nothing, it’s a gift,” Hawke replied, running a hand through his hair. He’d helped many freed slaves before, but this would be his first time working so closely with one. “This way I can let you know what’s going on and we can figure out a time for you to meet the rest of my team.”

“Thank you. I’ve never received a gift before. I have nothing to give you in return.”

Was he trying to kill Hawke cause if the stutter in his heart was anything to go by, he was doing a damn good job. “No, really, it’s fine. I just want to be able to keep in contact with you.”

Fenris gave him a small smile, before making his way to the front door. “I suppose then, I will talk to you later.”

Hawke returned his smile and waved as Fenris slipped out the door. “I’ll talk to you then.”

Then just like before, Fenris was gone. Hawke considered looking out the window to see where he would go, but held himself back. Seeing the direction he headed would give him no more information on the man than he already had. A yawn escaped him then as well and he was more than happy to give in to it. While the coffee had helped him wake up enough for their conversation, he was far from ready to start the day. 

As Hawke slipped into bed, welcoming the warmth of his blankets, his phone rang. Groaning he rolled over to lift it from his nightstand. It was the number for the phone he’d given to Fenris. He accepted the call and brought the phone to his head as he laid back against the pillow. “Forget something?”

“No, I, I just wanted to thank you again, for this, and the coffee. And for listening to me when you have no reason to.”

“Hmm, yeah, it’s no problem. That’s what friends are for, right?” Hawke hummed in reply, before stifling another yawn. Now that he was back in bed, sleep was beckoning.

“Friends…” the world sounded foreign on Fenris’ tongue and he was silent for a moment. “Is that what you consider me? You barely know me.”

“Yeah, but I like you already and I’d like to know you better, unless,” this time he couldn’t hold back the yawn, “Unless you don’t want that.”

“No. No, I think I would like that,” Fenris’ deep voice was soft as he continued, “I’m sorry to have bothered you again so quickly. Sleep well, Hawke.”

Before he could say anything in reply, the call ended with a soft click. Hawke sighed and pushed his phone to the other side of the bed before surrendering to sleep. That night his dreams were dominated by dark skin, white hair, and a distinctly teasing smirk.


End file.
